How to Optimize Your Instagram Bio for Maximum Follower Growth
No matter how good your content is, if your profile isn’t optimized, you won’t see the conversions, growth, or sales you’re aiming for. If you’re not seeing the conversions, growth, or sales you’re dreaming of, no worries—I’m here to help you turn that around!
In this episode, you’ll learn:
[00:00] The Power of an Optimized Instagram Bio:
Discover why a killer bio is your secret weapon for Instagram growth.
Learn how to turn those profile visits into followers and clients with a bio that packs a punch!
[01:07] Five Game-Changing Bio Tweaks:
Hide Your Category: Maximize your bio space by hiding the category. I’ll show you how to do it in a snap!
Craft an Irresistible Top Line: Make it crystal clear what followers will gain by hitting that follow button. Spoiler: My top line promises to help you grow your following, get clients, and boost your brand visibility!
Show Off Your Credibility: Add a fun, short positioning statement that highlights your experience and personality. Think of it as your mini resume—without the boring part!
Call to Action (CTA) Magic: Whether it’s a lead magnet or booking a call, make sure your bio has a strong CTA that gets your audience to take action.
SEO Your Username and Name: Use keywords that your ideal clients are searching for. Ditch the fancy jargon and get straight to the point!
[03:24] Exclusive Offer for My Podcast Fam:
Want my eyes on your bio? DM me the word “bio” on Instagram for a FREE 15-minute Instagram breakthrough call. Let’s chat about how to make Instagram work for you!
[06:11] Why Your Bio Matters:
If you’ve got a viral video but your bio doesn’t deliver, you might miss out on those new followers. I’ll explain how to keep your bio in sync with your content to avoid any disconnects.
[09:20] Your Action Steps:
Screenshot your bio before and after you make these updates, and tag me in your Instagram story. I can’t wait to see your transformation!
Don’t forget to DM me the word “bio” to get your free profile review.
Links mentioned in this episode…
JOIN HOT REELS: The 12-Month Instagram Content Lab
An intimate, strategy-packed mentorship for established business owners ready to create killer content that stops the scroll, grows your following and attracts your dreamboat clients (even if you have no idea what to post and feel like you’re always throwing spaghetti at the wall!)
Insta-Growth: The 30-Day Private Instagram Mentorship (SAVE $200 WITH CODE "PODCAST") - https://www.elizabethmarberry.com/insta-growth
Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram
Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Call with Elizabeth
Quote
[04:18] “The top line of your bio should be, ‘Why should I follow you? What types of content can I expect from your feed?’”
TRANSCRIPT
S3 Ep26 - 5 Instagram Growth Hacks You're Missing (And How to Fix Them)
Elizabeth Marberry:
00:00
If your Instagram account is not optimized, it doesn't matter how good the content you create is, or even if you have a video go viral, it's not going to lead to conversions. It's not going to grow your following and it's not going to make you sales. So today I'm gonna teach you exactly how to optimize your account so you can really dial it in so it works like a magnet attracting your ideal followers and clients. Are you ready? Let's do it.
00:28
Welcome to Strut It, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their sole lead work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram and you're seeking simple, proven Instagram marketing strategies that actually work, you're in the right place.
00:57
Let's dive in.
01:07
Welcome back to the show. You are in for a treat today because I'm gonna be giving you something that usually I only give my paying clients. And it's very simple, but it can be a total game changer for your business on Instagram. So when I first start working with my clients, we always begin with their bio overhaul because a fully optimized Instagram bio, meaning that top part of your page where you have your username
01:36
a description of what you do and your link, that is one key to Instagram growth. So I'm gonna break down exactly how you can optimize your bio. And I have a special free opportunity for you, my sweet podcast listener. If you want my eyes on your bio, DM me on Instagram at Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y. Make sure you're following, of course.
02:03
but then send me a direct message with the word bio, B-I-O, and I will send you a link to book a free 15 minute Instagram breakthrough call with me where I'll take a quick look at your bio and your feed. We can talk about how you can optimize Instagram to work for your business. And if I'm the right person to support you, I will let you know if there's a special container that you need to step into so you can really catapult.
02:28
your business and your cashflow on Instagram. And if not, I will point you to some other resources. So DM me right now the word bio on Instagram if you want my eyes and feedback on your content. Okay, so let's get into it. First of all, if your bio reads like a resume and it's all about you, or it's too general, you're not going to grow your following or attract your dreamboat clients. Remember,
02:56
with marketing in general, this is not just Instagram, it needs to be about your ideal client and customer. It's not about you, okay? So everything has to be about what's in it for me if I follow you, make sense? So everything is created for your target market. Now here are five changes you can make right now to upgrade your bio so it attracts more of your ideal followers and clients. Number one is so easy. I want you to...
03:24
hide your category. So the category is that part where you get to select what niche you're in. So maybe it's a digital creator, entrepreneur, or real estate agent, or whatever it is. If that is showing on your profile, I want you to go into your settings and I want you to hide it. And here's why. Your bio is precious real estate and you don't want a full line of your bio taken up by your category. This simple shift will really help you
03:52
to maximize that space on the screen so you can really get in front of your ideal people. So you just click on edit profile, select category, and then toggle off on the part where it says display on profile, you just toggle it off, super easy. Number two, the top line of your bio should be why should I follow you? Like what's in it for me? What types of content can I expect from your feed?
04:18
So if you go to my bio on Instagram, I say grow your following, get clients, and boost your brand visibility. So when you look at my content on Instagram, I'm delivering on that. That is what my content is about. And so if that's you and you're like, ooh, I wanna grow my following, I wanna get more clients, I wanna boost my brand visibility, you're gonna give me a follow because you're gonna know that my content is going to give you all of that value. So think about what kind of content do you wanna create and what's in it for your ideal client.
04:48
Number three, a short but fun positioning statement that establishes your credibility. So this is a great place to show some personality. So you could say 18 years as a social media strategist or in my bio, I say CEO at Wedding Dance Coach and Strudit Podcast because I want people to know that I own a dance studio and I have a podcast. So you can definitely add a line about your credibility there or your experience. That is totally optional.
05:16
As you know, you have a limited characters in your bio, so you have to kind of play with it, but that can be a great way to boost your credibility and showcase your expertise. You need to have a call to action. So really encourage them to do something, take action. This is where if you have a lead magnet, you should have some sort of call to action like on mine where it's free monetize your IG guide and I have little emojis pointing down.
05:43
And then my link takes them right to that page where they can grab my freebie. I highly recommend you do something similar or maybe it's your calendar. Maybe your sales funnel is they book a call with you. Whatever it is, make sure you have a clear call to action, meaning CTA in your bio. Finally, remember that your username and your name. So your username means like your handle and your name.
06:11
on your account should be search engine optimized, SEO friendly, okay, with key words that your ideal client prospects would be searching. So instead of saying wealth portal, you might say wealth coach, because I might Google a wealth coach or a money coach, but a wealth portal opener is not something that I'm gonna be Googling, makes sense? So you can do some research on
06:37
Google keywords, Google trends to kind of see what words are being used, but you don't wanna get too fancy here in your name field. You want it to be very focused and dialed in with keywords. Now, I recommend that you use keywords throughout your bio as well and in all of your content, but especially in that name field, you wanna make sure that it's really clear who it is that you're speaking to.
07:03
You can take a quick look at my bio to see how I do it. And this piece is so important and I wanna close out with this. I wanted to keep this episode super short and sweet because I want you to DM me the word bio on Instagram right now so we can hop on a free 15 minute Instagram breakthrough call. So I can really hear from you and identify like, why are you stuck on Instagram right now? What are you struggling with? And then what do you want? And really I will help you identify those next few steps.
07:30
so you can make Instagram work for your business. So definitely DM me the word bio so we can get into conversation. I cannot wait to connect with you. Now why this is so important, I just wanna paint the flow and the picture for you so it's very clear. So let's say you create a piece of content that goes viral. Let's say you create a reel and it gets hundreds of thousands of views. And this reel is...
07:56
targeted at your ideal audience. So maybe it's like really relatable to your target audience. So a lot of my reels that have gone viral lately are that relatable content. Like when I got five views and two likes on my last reel, yet I keep showing up, right? So that's very relatable to someone on Instagram who's creating content and they're feeling really frustrated at their lack of reach, engagement, and growth. That is one of my ideal clients, right?
08:25
So when a video like that that I create goes viral, what happens is people are like, ooh, I like this. I'm gonna click on her profile, see what she does. When they hop on over to my profile, they see exactly what I do. And if I describe them in my bio, like if you hop over to my bio and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm a small business owner. I need help marketing my business on Instagram, marketing my brand on Instagram. I'm gonna follow Elizabeth and binge on her content because she's gonna teach me.
08:54
exactly how to do it. But if I had a video go viral of my kid and I'm feeding like strawberries to my kid and they're sneezing it out their nose, and then they go over to my profile and I'm not a mom blogger or I'm not teaching about parenting advice or whatever, there's the disconnect and I'm not going to get the follow. Does that make sense? So that's part of why your content must deliver on the promise of your bio. And
09:20
That's how it works. That's how the flow works. And that's why it's so critical that your bio is optimized. I hope that makes sense. If you loved today's episode and you learned a thing or two, I want you to, first of all, screenshot your bio before and then screenshot it after and tag me in your Instagram story. I wanna see what you came up with. I would love to celebrate you for taking action because if you want new results, you must take new action.
09:48
So I can't wait for you to walk away from the short and sweet episode and go implement, pause this, go do it. Tag me in your story so I can see what you did. And don't forget to DM me the word bio so you can get that free IG profile review with me. I can't wait to connect with you. Be sure you have subscribed to the show so you don't miss when the next episode drops next Monday. I'm super excited to continue to serve you and help you up level your marketing savviness on Instagram.
10:16
I'll see you next week. Thank you for listening to Strut It. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business, then you're gonna wanna grab my free Monetize Your IG Guide, where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram.
10:34
You can grab your guide at elizabethmarbury.com slash freebies. That's elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies to get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.